Leo's Answers #200 – October 13, 2009

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*** New Articles

What’s a safe web site?

How do I know if a site I’m about to visit is a safe web site? Is there any
software I can use to know this, or some other technique?

*

This turns out to be a frustratingly difficult problem to solve.

It’s not that there aren’t some solutions to identifying safe web sites, but
rather that the solutions themselves can often be inconsistent.

But used properly, there are some ways you can at least gather a little
additional data before taking the plunge and clicking that link.

My anti-spyware tool is reporting errors in my hosts file. What is
that, and why?

I tried a different anti-spyware program which reported a stream of
different trojans all related to my HOSTS file. This list (1677 in all) are
listed on my hosts file as inserted by Spybot. The program I was testing told
me to delete them immediately. I am very confused, should I remove all these
entries?? I understood that they were placed there by Spybot so that these
sites could not be accessed. Each entry follows the loopback address
127.0.0.1

*

You’re bumping into a classic problem that results from running more than
one anti-spyware program. One program thinks that the other is itself
spyware.

Who do you believe?

In this case, if we understand why the hosts file is so important and how it
can be used and misused, we’ll have our answer.

Is keeping an image backup of my cleanly installed machine a good
idea?

As you keep saying we should do backups of our system so I found an easy
Disk Imaging System which I use to make full backups of my system.

The idea I had was to do a reinstall of my system using the manufacturers
installation disk then download all my programs , clean off as much junk as
possible and then make a disk image of what should be as clean a system as
possible.

After say six months I was planning to reformat the disk and put the backup
on. I would then bring everything up to date and make another image for use in
six months time. A bit like spring cleaning.

My question is how will this work regarding my security programs which
update once or twice a day? When I put a six month old backup back on will my
anti virus and anti malware programs update correctly or will they be missing
updates from months previously?

*

First, I like your idea. The basic idea is an approach I endorse, though I
don’t know if I’d do it every six months.

In fact, it’s an idea I strongly recommend for people that have
purchased machines with Windows preinstalled, and did not receive original
installation media.

I’ll review the technique, and then also address your question: what to do
about updates that happen after the initial image is taken.

I recently noticed two huge files named hiberfil.sys and pagefile.sys
occupying something like 2.5GB. I can’t delete ’em, or if I do they come back
when I reboot. What are they and how do I get rid of them?

*

As you might guess, hiberfil.sys and pagefile.sys are two system files,
managed by Windows.

They are support files for two features in Windows. While you might be able
to get rid of them, you might not actually want to.

I hope you might be able to help with the following problem. When attempting
to send email from ‘Outlook Express’ the error message “The message could not
be sent because one of the recipients was rejected by the server. Relaying
denied. Proper authentication required.'”

What does that mean, and how do I fix it?

*

To understand what situations can result in this error, and thus how or if
we can solve them, we need to look at exactly how email gets from your computer
to its recipient.

It can be a short trip, or a lengthy one, depending on a number of
factors.

“Character Map” — CharMap.EXE — is located within your “C:WINDOWSSystem32” directory (or “folder” to use Microsoft-speak). I place a shortcut to it on my (classic view) Start Menu, so that it’s immediately available if I need it.

Be aware that using CharMap does have two very distinct disadvantages:

First, to be used correctly, you need to switch it to whatever font you happen to be writing/editing in at the moment, which — on a system with a couple of hundred fonts on it — can be rather time consuming!

And Second, after selecting the correct font, you do need to (tediously) peruse the table of characters to hunt out the character you need — which may (or may not!) be a hunt in vain, since not every font has every available character. If you happen to be using a font which omits the character you need, you’re out of luck — all you can do is switch to some other, more complete, font!

Still, if the latter’s the case, CharMap’s your quickest and most definitive way of finding that out! And if you don’t want to mess around with memorizing “ALT” codes, CharMap’s “point-&-click” interface can’t be beat. 🙂

Setting up a new email address so that the password is not asked for repeatedly is, to say the least, VERY frustrating. It seems that EVERY time someone creates a new email address with their ISP, Yahoo, Gmail, or whoever – and then sets it up under “accounts” in their email program, they MUST go through this agravating hassle. and hope that eventually the request to enter the password stops appearing.

This problem is like going through a rite of passage. You apparently must keep trying to use that new email address until the gods are finally satisfied.

Complaints of this nature has been going on for years, and AFAIK no one has come up with an improved method for setting up new email addresses yet!

And it shouldn’t be happening. In fact, it doesn’t happen to the vast majority of users. The program needs to ask for the password at least once, but as long as you check “remember this password”, or whatever the equivalent is in your email program, that should be the end of it, until you set up a new email program, change your password, or create a new email account. I’ve listed a number of possibilities in the article of things that can go wrong. I don’t mean to minimize the problem you’re having but I do need to be clear that it’s not by design, as you make it out to be. It’s a problem, and has some kind of root cause that can and should be fixed.

-Leo

*** Leo Recommends

Webopedia
Internet and Technology dictionary and search engine

Ever come across an internet or computer related term or acronym that made
absolutely NO sense? And yet the writer, perhaps even me, uses it as if
everyone on the planet should know what it means?

Webopedia is the
site for you. “The only online dictionary and search engine you need for
computer and Internet technology definitions.”

This article got a ton of
traffic last week when it was announced that a number of Hotmail passwords may
have been compromised. Do you have a good password? (Hotmail or anywhere else,
for that matter).

How do I change my Windows Live Hotmail password?

I can’t figure out how to change my password since they changed MSN Hotmail
to that new Windows Live Hotmail. How do I change my password now?

My replacement laptop’s been delayed, so I’ll be traveling with my MacBook Pro for the first
time this week. Should be interesting. Thunderbird makes moving my email from machine to machine
pretty much a snap, so that part’s easy, as is any web browsing.

My bigger concern is whatever it is I haven’t thought about, and won’t realize until I’m
miles from home.

That new laptop, a Dell XPS 16, is probably going to arrive with 64bit Vista on it – which given the timing
I’ll probably just immediately replace with 64bit Windows 7 which I pre-ordered a couple of days ago. I ordered
the laptop too soon to have Windows 7 preinstalled, but it certainly seems like the way to go for a new machine based
on everything I’ve read, and my own experimentation with the release candidate.

In the mean time – Albuquerque, here I come. As you read this, I’m likely in an airport, or in the air.
(Keep an eye on my Twitter stream, if so inclined – perhaps I’ll
do an impromptu “Tweet-Up” .)